Another Perspective from Walter Reed Inside
By Kevin Roeten (03/27/07)
It seems as though Walter Reed Army Medical Center has been maligned, crushed, cut-up, and condemned. Nobody's heard anything good about WRAMC at all. But have we heard the correct information? To get the real story, one might need to go a little deeper. Or, possibly even talk to a few people that's actually been there.
From CPT. Cindy Hadley, who's spent 24 years working in the Army, and has been the Senior Clinical Chaplain at Walter Reed for four years now, the perspective is seriously different from what you've heard. She states, "The media is making it sound like these conditions are rampant at Walter Reed and nothing could be further from the truth." She supervises the chaplain staff at Walter Reed that cares for the 200 inpatients, the 650+ daily outpatients from the war that come to them for medical care, the 4000+ staff, and over 3000 soldiers and their families that come for clinical appointments daily.
The Walter Reed staff has done an incredible job at the largest US military medical facility with the worst "injured" of the Iraq war. They have cared for over 400 amputees and their families. Hadley continues "When the news about Building 18 broke I was on leave. I was in shock when the news broke. We in the chaplain's office in Walter Reed, as well as the majority of people at Walter Reed, did not know anyone was in Building 18. I didn't even know we had a Building 18." Walter Reed is actually over 100 acres of 66 buildings on 2 installations.
Building 18 is not on the installation of Walter Reed, and was believed to be closed years ago by their department. The fact that some leaders in the medical brigade that were in charge of the outpatients put soldiers in there was terrible. That is why the company commander, first sergeant, and a group of platoon leaders and platoon sergeants were relieved immediately. They failed their soldiers and the Army. As any leader knows, if you do not take care of soldiers, lie, and then try to cover it up, you are not worthy of the commission you hold and should be sent packing. The frustrating part is that the media is making it sound like all of Walter Reed is like Building 18. Nothing could be further from the truth.
One might ask what the writer even knows about Walter Reed. He spent periods of three months there after finding out that his son was shot by a terrorist sniper in Bagdad. The wounded soldier was taken to Walter Reed, was unconscious for two weeks, had his spleen and part of his intestine removed, and after 18 surgeries, a known hernia, and a personal visit by the president(Bush), he now is married and resides in Chicago. The writer knows what it means to bring someone back from the 'dead'. The nurses and doctors at Walter Reed have done it hundreds of times, but you never hear about how many lives they've saved. The writer was personally present to witness the care and the professionalism of the nurses(female and male), the doctors, and the president during the writer's prolonged stay. Needless to say, the attack by the media for what they found in "one" building was way over the top.
From the Senior Chaplain Clinitian at Walter Reed, John L. Callerson: "I want you to hear the whole story because our wounded, their families, our Army, and the nation need to know that many in the media and select politicians have an agenda. Forget agendas and make the changes that have been needed for years to fix problems in every military hospital and the VA system. The poor leaders will be identified and sent packing and good riddance to them."
Per Hadley, "The news media and politicians are making it sound like Walter Reed is a terrible place and the staff here has been abusing our brave wounded soldiers; what a bunch of bull!" The writer is exstatic that his son was saved by those many unknown folks at Walter Reed. From the writer's understanding, the sniper that shot his son was caught alive only a week later. His son is probably now saying, "Is this the worst you can do?" Here's hoping that this daring soldier never meets up with his alleged assassin in some dark alley later on in the near future.
Kevin Roeten
(Printer friendly version) Email: Kevin Roeten
